So now he must deal with fulfilment. Is that dangerous? What do you do when you reach the end of the rainbow? On the final green at Augusta, fantasy and reality came to an arrangement in Rory McIlroy’s life after more than a decade of exhausting conflict. So, does he need another fight? Already?
In his pre-tournament press conference at the US PGA Championship McIlroy was asked four questions that, one way or another, pondered the future after competing the career Grand Slam with his Masters win and what goals might shape it. If he knew yet, he wasn’t prepared to say.
He said something about being the European player with the most Majors, or the international player with the most Majors, but they sounded like stopgap answers while he was gathering fuel for a fire. His biggest dream came true. Most people will never know how that feels. Until a month ago he was just guessing too.
“Look,” he said “I have achieved everything that I’ve wanted – I’ve done everything I’ve wanted to do in the game. I dreamed as a child of becoming the best player in the world and winning all the Majors. I’ve done that. Everything beyond this, for however long I decide to play the game competitively, is a bonus.”
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But for how long can that feeling last before it becomes corrosive? Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods both won 11 more Majors after they completed their career Grand Slam. Granted, they were both in their mid-20s when they reached that summit and had not suffered as grievously as McIlroy on the ascent; but neither Nicklaus nor Woods saw it as the end of anything.
McIlroy was asked how often he had revisited the moment at Augusta after the final putt dropped and his answer was interesting. “I’ve tried not to watch it a lot because I want to remember the feelings. I’ve talked about this before, but I think when I rewatch a lot of things back, I then just remember the visuals of the TV rather than what I was feeling and what I was seeing through my own eyes, so I haven’t tried to watch it back too much.
“But anytime I have, I well up. I still feel like I want to cry. It was involuntary. I’ve never felt a release like that before, and I might never feel a release like that again. That could be a once-in-a-lifetime thing.”
That’s the thing. For more than a decade he had been chasing that feeling and he has been living with it now for just a month. Whatever he achieves in the future, no matter how many new setbacks drive him to his next Major, there cannot be another moment like Augusta. The battle he won with himself can’t ever be as bloody again.
He was asked if he had another “North Star” to follow for the next phase of his career and it sounded like it was just too soon to think about it.
“I think everyone saw how hard having a North Star is and being able to get over the line,” he said. “I feel like I sort of burdened myself with the career Grand Slam stuff, and I want to enjoy this. I’ve always said I’m never going to put a number on it [winning Majors]. The numbers tell one story, but it mightn’t be the full story.
“I want to enjoy what I’ve achieved, and I want to enjoy the last decade or whatever of my career, and I don’t want to burden myself by numbers or statistics. I want to go and play the best golf I can.”
Paradise found. For now.
